This morning, I went to meet a friend at Friends of The Earth Co-Op. To get there, I ended up walking through the Fitzroy and Collingwood neighborhoods, which are absolutely ideal locations for finding street art. I want to share some of the pieces I discovered, starting with this one by Everfresh Studios. These artists use art to express pride for their neighborhood and add character to their surroundings.
Here’s a piece by Adnate. He’s a Melbourne-based artist who does a lot of work featuring indigenous Aboriginal Australians, which is great for preserving Melbourne’s cultural heritage. His work has caught the attention of many, and he was even invited to do a $20,000 commissioned piece in Hosier Lane by people in the community.
Street art is frequently used as a form of protest or activism, mostly about political figures or movements. It’s a great way to get the message out there to a wide audience. For example, here’s a paste-up against eating animals.
I also found this piece by Deb, a prominent female street artist within the male-dominated culture. Her works all convey a strong sense of femininity, and most of the women she features are quite exotic or ethnic looking.
I read one of her interviews in Invurt, where she says she spends half her time preparing art for galleries and half with street art. While she tries to keep both forms of art separate, she admits that she spray paints in a style that resembles her illustrations. She’s also highly influenced by pin-up, vintage, retro, and burlesque style. A really cool thing about her is that she writes short stories before she starts painting, so her characters and style are really unique.
I also saw this beautiful mural on Young Street. I first saw images of it from RMIT professor Maggie McCormick, so when I meet with her, I’ll ask more about it.
I found this piece outside of Juddy Rollers Cafe. I love how there are so many different forms of street art, and how this literally pops out of the wall. I think it must have been made out of cardboard in a studio and then pasted on.
I also like how much street art plays with dimension and surface. I love how the zebras move seamlessly from the garage to the brick wall. That’s one of the coolest things about street art — how it interacts with its surroundings and how the artist makes decisions based on the canvas.
Another animal piece that I liked was by Makatron. He describes his work as a visual riot about the “interface between man, beast and machine.” I love seeing his animals around the streets. Apparently, he travels a lot, so I’m excited to see his work around the work! Since I follow him on social media, I’ve currently been seeing updates on his work in New York.
Street art can also be used to memorialize people. Here’s a piece dedicated to Adriano, who is probably a friend of the artists who passed away.
Finally, I love seeing pieces from artists from all the way across the world. I believe this one is by an artist called Kaffeine. 
The cool thing is that I’ve seen his work in New York City, too! Here’s another piece of his that I found in Brooklyn.
Searching For Street Art 